


Love Thy Neighbor

by orphan_account



Category: Free!
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Future Fic, M/M, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-17
Updated: 2014-03-17
Packaged: 2018-01-16 01:42:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1327090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Despite never really properly living with someone outside of family, Makoto thinks Rin moving into his place when he needs somewhere to live in the city shouldn’t be that different.</p><p>A year in the life of good friends to roommates to more to back again to more again (and even more).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love Thy Neighbor

**Author's Note:**

> The year here is 2021-2022 and they're pretty much 24/25 the entire time which is so weird to me because that means they're BABIES GOD.

Oddly enough, it’s Rin who casually throws the idea to Makoto during a reunion dinner everyone attends while they’re on Christmas holiday. It’s tossed into the cacophony of conversations around the Matsuoka dining table, cluttered into the sea of voices that is Nagisa and Haru discussing Haru’s job as a marketer for a chain of swimming equipment and clothing not too far from Iwatobi, Rei and Seijuurou talking about some sort of theory of economics, and Kou and Nitori arguing over the best place to get sweets in their cozy hometown.

Said idea involves Rin elbowing Makoto in the side, leaning in, and asking when Makoto dips his head down to hear him whisper, “You haven’t moved out of Tokyo since the Olympics ended, right?” 

Makoto moves his thought process away from the application he just sent regarding a teaching program in America to recalling last summer. Oh yeah, Rin visited him and everyone else from the Olympic Village when they crammed into Makoto’s apartment to cheer him on during the summer. 

(even though they were well into their twenties and the habit lessened with time, it still took both Makoto and Kou to stop Haru from stripping when he saw the Olympic pool for the first time)

He won a bronze and a silver in the individual, and doesn’t seem to mind or ever comment that his relay team never placed. It has everyone curious, until Rin pulls Haru, Makoto, and Nagisa all aside one day and admits, “It’s nowhere near the same as being with you guys, and I’d much rather you all with me.” 

Makoto removes his gaze from the gently falling flurries catching onto whatever they could of the chilly Iwatobi evening to meet Rin’s. “Still there, why?”

“Has anyone taken the spare room? My trainer’s relocated and I loved staying there over the summer, so I figured, ‘fuck it, I’m still young and I could do with this change in my life.’ You can say no, but I figured that if the two of us were splitting the rent, it’d make things a lot easier. But you’re a dick if you reject my company, no pressure.” His smile belies his insult.

Makoto can think of many reasons to say no, actually. He’s fine living in a small place alone, but feels terrible at the idea that one of his close friends would be forced to live in it as well. While he’s lucky he doesn’t have a studio and at least it isn’t falling apart, but his apartment complex is overcrowded and the size of his own place isn’t probably that much bigger than his and Haru’s childhood bedrooms combined.

He eventually decides on, “I would, but my place is really crappy, Rin. Have you seen it? And you’re an Olympian athlete, you can do so much better!”

“Dude, I don’t care. And I don’t get paid shit; I haven’t done promotions so it’s not like I’m rolling in money.”

Living alone does take its toll though, even with Haru coming to stay whenever his job requires him to work there for a week once every few months or so. He’s gone from living in a busy house of five for his most formative years to multiple roommates at university to no one. 

Thinking further on this, some company would be nice, and having Rin live with him wouldn’t be any different than being in his house with his family or spending consecutive nights at Haru’s growing up, right? Having Rin in the spare room would be just like Ren and Ran down the hallway, minus the tackling and screaming that yes, even continued into the beginnings of their teenage years.

Makoto grins and resigns. “Why not. How about the beginning of February?”

He flinches when Rin punches him in the bicep in satisfaction. “Ha! I knew you’d say yes. You’re awesome, Makoto.”

“What are you talking about?” Haru breaks from his conversation with Nagisa to face the two.

“I’m moving in with Makoto!” Rin puffs his chest out as if this is some hard-earned and well-fought victory (Makoto thinks he caved pretty easily actually).

Haru squints and looks at Makoto. “He talks in his sleep.”

“What the hell, Haru!”

Haru then turns his attention to Rin. “Makoto snores.”

“Haru!”

\--

The lock gives its habitual creaky click and opens up to Makoto’s rather simple apartment about a month later. A barely-there foyer opens up to a living space that overlaps with the small but resourceful kitchen, only somewhat separated by the counter that extends out of the kitchen wall that serves as a makeshift dining table. The living area leads to a small hallway, narrow, but still enough to comfortably have two people walk side-by-side, though just barely. There are two doors on the left, the bathroom and a bedroom, with the lone door on the right belonging to another (and up until now, the guest) bedroom, directly across the other. The thin wall at the end houses a linen closet, well stocked since guests are something Makoto always makes sure to tend to to the highest priority.

“It smells like you.” Rin says this first, like it’s an unsurprising fact. He pushes his shoes off with his feet and pulls his two suitcases and shoulder-laden duffel farther into the living room. With more things and another person, the place already feels even smaller, resulting in Makoto feeling even more self-conscious about the fact that he’s not the only one living in this closet.

Makoto holds on tighter to the single box that Rin packed - travelling, dorming, and moving since one was twelve probably teaches them how to pack extremely light and makes taking an elevator to the fifteenth level instead of taking stairs a much preferable option - and blushes. “Is that a bad thing?”

Rin turns his head and smiles, “Of course not. You’ve always smelled like...familiarity.” His eyes widen and he quickly blurts out words to bury what he’s just said. “You also smell like clean laundry and grass at Iwatobi and have you _really_ been using the same cologne since high school?”

It takes a few more seconds for it to settle in that his cover-up isn’t exactly helping his case, and when it does, Rin coughs into his arm and turns red, mumbling into his sleeve about something Makoto can’t really understand.

It’s cute, but to help him feel better, Makoto changes his focus and squints at the sock that’s hanging off the couch armrest, running over to pick it up and stuff it in his pocket, hiding the proof of his tendency to toss his clothes wherever. There are a few dishes in the sink he forgot about, and the wires from his video game console are a tangled mess in the TV stand, the controller lazily tossed on the edge of the couch. All of this in the two days before Makoto cleaned for Rin’s arrival? “It’s a bit messy still, sorry.”

Rin’s more than happy to take advantage of the change in topic. “Dude, spend two years as Ai’s roommate and then we’ll talk.”

He goes to the kitchen next and opens up some cabinets and the fridge. “You have actual ingredients in here? Not just the instant shit?”

Makoto’s confused. “Yes?”

“The food you eat is edible?”

Makoto replies with a laugh upon making the connection to what Rin’s talking about. “Hey, I got better with time! When you’re on our own and take-out adds up, you have to figure out some solution.”

“So long as you can tell the difference between salt and sugar, I think you’re somewhat safe.” Rin presses his head further into the fridge so it looks like a giant mouth trying to swallow him whole. “You’ve only got the basics though. That gets pretty bland, doesn’t it?” Rin frowns. “Makoto, this milk is going to expire in two days and it’s only half-full.”

“It is?”

“You’d think that you of all people would keep a keen eye out for expiration dates and when things will go bad. I guess you only do that for everyone but yourself, right?”

Makoto stays silent, hoping that Rin doesn’t take that as a sign that he’s right (which he is).

“Okay,” Rin starts as he goes to the hallway on the other end. He points at the closed doors as he makes his way down. “I’ve been here before, I should remember this. Bathroom. My room. Your room. And yes, I remember your request.”

Makoto laughs, “I guess that saves me from telling you about it again.” 

“I don’t get why you really don’t want me in your room though. What’s the reason again?”

“Privacy.” Makoto isn’t lying. It’s his one selfish request, because even if he’s more than happy to accept a roommate, especially a lifelong friend, sometimes he does need his space. In a bustling city, it’s even harder to cope with the larger things that freak him out, that scare and worry him, that require him to be alone so it doesn’t serve as a burden for anyone who’s probably going through something much worse. 

Even if those moments are rare, he can’t afford anyone ever seeing that, even a stranger in a tourist city with a population of over thirteen million.

Rin doesn’t buy it. “You’re hiding something in there, aren’t you.”

“No, it’s not like that!”

“Are you secretly a sex demon and that’s your chamber of passion? No, that can’t be it. It’s cats. You’re definitely hiding at least five cats in there. I see you trying to get past that ‘one pet per unit’ rule.”

Makoto laughs, “It’s neither of those.”

He makes sure to mentally note the idea of creating a space in his closet in the future, though.

The next and final stop is the room across the hall, directly across from Makoto’s. As it was previously the guest room it’s already furnished. Other than the queen sized bed, the drawer, and the desk with a full length mirror next to it, the room is empty though, waiting to be filled with the contents reflecting one’s personality and lifestyle. Hopefully it can handle a passionate, fiery, and sarcastic one with an intelligent and tidy touch.

Rin doesn’t set any rules about how often or not Makoto can come in, but he doesn’t expect to spend that much, if any, time in here anyway.

\--

They don’t really see each other for the first couple of weeks. Makoto teaching at an elementary school is thankfully a full-time and rewarding job, though he’s more than fine with adding sponsoring an after-school club for an additional hour (he has an even higher amount of respect for Amakata-sensei for dealing with the swim club way back when) and volunteering at an animal shelter nearby for a few more after. Add a commute that involves an extraneous number of stops and two transfers on top of this, and his schedule is pretty packed. 

Rin too keeps his plate full; even though being an Olympian is his achieved and continued dream, it still doesn’t pay any of the bills. His schedule, unsurprisingly Rin, is meticulous. He has a full-time job as an English translator for some big business, trains for three hours a day in both weights and swimming, and still manages to find time teaching children how to become better swimmers in the same building where he does the same for himself several times a week. 

Rin jogs in the mornings, showers, and is out of the apartment before Makoto even wakes up. Even though he works later, the closer distance has Rin home before Makoto, though he’s fed himself at this point and doesn’t take that much time to socialize with his new roommate. His athletic regimen requires him to get as much sleep as he can, so he’s usually locked in his room by 10 and asleep less than an hour later.

It’s not bad. Not exciting, but not bad. Living with Rin is easy enough, and the few shared minutes they exchange don’t feel brief, but not prolonged.

However, Makoto’s the first one to cause a disruption into the system. Technically it wasn’t his fault; the animal shelter didn’t need him and lets him out early that day and he’s able to get back to his place a couple of hours earlier than he’s used to. He texted Rin letting him know that he’ll be there earlier than expected, so he doesn’t accidentally startle him that results in Rin trying to murder not-intruder Makoto or something.

Evening’s just begun by the time Makoto unlocks the door, and he’s immediately hit by the smell of sizzling beef, causing his empty stomach to let out an embarrassing rumble.

“Oh my god,” is all Makoto manages to moan out, closing his eyes and letting the back of his head hit the front door.

“Good, right?” Rin tips his head back from the stove and grins. The far end of the countertop holds a few folded bags of unfamiliar reusable grocery bags stacked together, and the closer the counter gets to the stovetop, so follows a line of cooking tools and various now-used ingredients. On one of the spare burners sits a rice cooker resting in “warm” mode, the finished rice letting off a thin trail of steam that falls victim to the exhaust fan.

Makoto slips off his shoes, places his things by the TV stand, and makes his way to look over Rin, resting his chin on his shoulder. “Do you make this every night?”

The sheen of sweat on Rin’s forehead glimmers when he shakes his head. “I usually stick to simpler things. Not as simple as your cooking, but still. Simple. But since you got back early and I was at the grocery store anyway when you texted me, I figured, ‘hey, Makoto eats shit for food. Let’s make him something nice for him to come home to for once.’”

Makoto laughs in Rin’s ear before moving to sit on one of the barstools. “I’m not complaining.”

He watches Rin’s back while the redhead finishes cooking, swirling the pan around to mix all the juices together and making sure that both the meat and vegetables are properly cooked. When he looks to be around finished, he goes over to Makoto this time, a small piece of steak just dangling between his chopsticks.

“Try.”

Makoto nods and opens his mouth, giving Rin permission to feed him, biting down a third of the way up the chopsticks, sliding his closed lips back down, and taking the meat in whole. Rin watches him with wide eyes the entire time, which seems a bit strange to Makoto.

As he chews and allows the flavor to burst in his mouth, Makoto’s pretty sure there are angels singing and that his soul has ascended to heaven.

“So?”

“Oh my god.” Makoto repeats when he swallows.

“Not too rare? I have a tendency to make it too red.”

“No, oh my god, no, this is perfect.”

“Are you saying that because it’s actually good or because you’re Makoto and everything by everyone is perfect?”

“How many times do I have to tell you this beef is amazing, Rin?”

Rin finally accepts the praise and gives a toothy smile like he didn’t expect anything less and returns to the stove. He comes back with two plates of rice, the meat neatly split and placed on top of both and a small pile of vegetables on the side. After, he takes the extra barstool next to Makoto and drags it to the other side of the counter so he’s across Makoto instead.

“Thank you so much for this Rin, it’s really appreciated.”

Rin shrugs. “It’s no big deal.”

“Were you still able to achieve everything you needed to today?”

The smile Rin gives him is like he expected no less out of Makoto, and the rest of their meal has the added layer of talk and anecdotes about their days and work.

In the back of Makoto’s mind, he considers asking if he can ask the shelter if he can cut back his hours from three to two.

\--

Two days later, Makoto feels a dig of a finger pressing in between his bare shoulder blades, thanking god that he had just finished shaving mere seconds before so he doesn’t cut himself from the surprise.

He’s also grateful that he was cold enough to at least wear sweatpants the night before so an unexpected Rin behind him wouldn’t get a show. Rin on the other hand, despite knowing that Makoto starts his day later, seems to have either forgotten or doesn’t care, since he’s wearing nothing but boxers that are more suited to a twelve-year-old in design.

“I was impressed when I saw that you had your cartilage pierced a few years ago, but damn. When did you get a tattoo?

“You didn’t go running today?” Makoto watches his reflection raise an eyebrow in the mirror at his bathroom guest as he splashes water over the spare bits of shaving cream on his jaw, reaching over Rin to grab his small towel to pat his face down.

“The weather was shitty. Now answer my question.”

“Right after I graduated.” Makoto now reaches over his shoulder to graze his fingers over the length-wise block of text written in kanji, even if its presence isn’t tangible. It’s a quote he enjoyed reading in one of his Japanese literature classes in university, black in text but caged in a thin but deep forest green rectangle, talking about the importance of strength and bravery. “Haru came with me to a tattoo parlour since he knew that I couldn’t handle facing the needle alone. Which is funny, considering the meaning of it and all.” 

He moves to sit on the toilet lid, giving Rin enough room to go about his morning routine. Rin looks at Makoto, as if insisting for more info before he sticks his toothbrush in his mouth, and as one used to filling up silence (or in this case brushing) with talk, Makoto continues, not really minding speaking about it, because this is Rin, and Rin would understand. 

He talks about using it to battle his fear of water and how his back was the one to face it for him, of how it reminds him that he needs to be strong for his family, friends, students, and others he feels like need him. He even considers admitting that when he feels like he has the world on his shoulders, given the situations of others that weigh more than he expects (more often than not), it’s a physical reminder that he’ll be able to carry the burden.

Then again, like his space in his room, that’s only meant for himself, so he keeps quiet.

Still, with all the other info, Rin nods in understanding with a toothbrush in his closed mouth and it makes Makoto smile.

“How have I never seen it?” Rin asks after spitting in the sink and rinsing out his mouth.

“I don’t really walk around shirtless when I see you. And I don’t swim anymore either.”

“And yet you’re still somewhat in shape after all these years. Good for you.” Rin claps his back.

They separate into their rooms and get dressed. Rin finishes after, commenting as he fixes his tie, “You know, maybe I’ll start taking my time and stay back in the mornings."

Makoto raises an eyebrow before biting into his toast. “Why’s that?”

“I guess with such a tight schedule, this is the only time I can actually relax. Apparently relaxation is important for a healthy lifestyle or some bullshit.”

Makoto catches the blush catching onto the apples of Rin’s cheeks that imply that they know more, but he doesn’t say anything.

\--

It takes just one more week for them to quickly fall into a steady routine, solid, but built on the foundation that if one’s missing, they both will fall apart.

Rin comes straight back to the apartment after his morning jog, like usual, but this time, hangs back after he showers and dresses for Makoto to do the same so they can have breakfast together. They walk to the station together, separating on their respective lines.

Makoto does the grocery shopping, Rin compiles the list - he usually texts it to Makoto because he knows exactly when he enters the store.

Rin made a schedule for the due date of the bills, stuck to the wall with some shark magnet Rei bought him when doing medical research in San Francisco a couple of summers ago. Underneath is a checklist for chores (mostly for Makoto to remember) that’s sealed by an orca that Rei bought for Makoto.

Living with a roommate, even if its a close friend, also results on one picking up and learning habits about them that wouldn’t reveal themselves otherwise. Rin always makes sure to clean the sink after he’s done using it. He has earbuds in and is often singing aloud to whatever he’s listening to whenever he cleans. When he chooses to work on his outside work on the couch (which he’s starting to do more and more often when Makoto comes home), he puts his hair back into a ponytail. Makoto wonders if Rin’s picked up on anything about him, and if they’re as positive as Makoto feels about Rin’s habits.

Weekends are spent exploring the city together and attempting to find the many nooks and crannies that Tokyo has to offer.

For example, Rin’s birthday occurred only a couple of days after moving and both were too busy to do anything, but they dedicate a Saturday evening in the beginning of March to going out at a nightclub Rin had read about while killing time at work.

Unfortunately they get bored of it quickly, not to mention a little weirded out by the dancers in gas masks (“Nagisa would love it here”), preferring their alternate plan of going back to their place and getting drunk on the living room floor. Events include blasting karaoke songs on Rin’s laptop and trying to sing along, attempting to play video games but giving up after not even being able to get past the first stage ("damn it Makoto, I thought you were good at this game"), and “wrestling,” but Rin and Makoto have both long known that they’re both hyper-affectionate when inebriated, so it’s more them locked in a hug and rolling around.

Haru also calls them the next day and says that yes, he did get their voicemail of them singing their confessions of love for him but understand that his love lies elsewhere, so they both give him and water their blessing. He thanks them, and he says it in such a Haru way that Rin and Makoto stare at each other over Rin’s phone on speaker in his hand while nursing their hangovers, not quite sure if Haru’s serious or not.

\--

They both have a beer in hand, sitting on the couch while some game show is on mute on the TV. Makoto and Rin have managed to stretch their few overlapped minutes to an hour, and most nights, spend it like this, conversing over an after-dinner drink and talking about whatever comes to mind.

Tonight’s conversation involves some teenage prying. 

“You’ve seriously never even kissed Haru before? Even as practice as kids?” Rin gapes.

Makoto shakes his head. “Affectionate pecks at the most on my part, but I don’t know if they count when you’re eight. What about you?”

“I mean, I thought about slamming him into a wall and making out with him when I was sixteen, sure. But no, never actually happened.”

Makoto takes a swig of his drink before continuing. “I will admit this though. I did make out with Seijuurou once.”

Makoto leans over just in time to catch Rin’s beer bottle when it slips from his fingers and places it on the table. “Shut the fuck up.” His shock dissolves into anger in no time, his eyes darkening. “This is before Kou reciprocated his feelings, right? Why the fuck would you even do that? What is with people I actually like seeing something in that guy?”

“It was nothing like that!” Makoto holds up his free hand. “I was getting advice from him on how to be a better captain for our upcoming third year and he noticed how tense I was and one thing led to another and it resulted in us in...well.” Makoto chuckles. “Yeah.”

“I cannot believe this.”

“It’s not a big deal, really, it was like seven years ago! Kou-chan knows.”

“Kou _what_?”

Makoto laughs and rubs the back of his head. “She thinks it’s funny actually. And said it was ho…” he doesn’t continue because maybe telling her older brother what she found sexy was not a good idea.

Thankfully Rin wasn’t paying attention. “He likes guys too?”

“Maybe it was just me? I’m irresistable, you know.”

“Stop that. You are not allowed to be cocky.”

Makoto takes advantage of the opportunity, channeling Nagisa when he says, “What do you know about my cock, Rin?”

Rin blushes before smacking Makoto with a cushion. “That is so _weird_. Your charm is innocent and cute, not seductive and suave.”

Makoto laughs before he takes his turn pressing Rin. “And you? Any secret hookups with anyone that I also know?”

“No.”

“Liar.”

Rin groans in defeat and hides his face in his hands. Leaning back against the couch, he admits, “Fine. I kissed Nagisa before Australia because he was really emotional about my leaving and I used it to promise I’d come back. And then Rei. We were drunk. I’m not continuing. Though that may have been the reason he had to get new glasses before his first year of university.”

Makoto smirks, “I knew there was no way he tossed them out his window during studying for exams.”

“No one else I would know?” Rin raises an eyebrow to break the pause between them when he leans forward to pick up his saved drink.

“I think a couple of guys on your team during that year-end party, but that’s it. Nothing too exciting.”

“Hm.” Rin tilts his head back and downs the rest of his beer. “I never told you my first big hookup and sexual awakening was with my second roommate in Australia, right? Max Something. Then Nitori once or twice. Never went too far. The Olympic Village is a madhouse, but I didn’t go for more than three. I think.” He laughs, “I guess the rule is if I’m roommates with you, we fuck, right?”

Makoto shakily mimics Rin’s laugh, who doesn’t even seem to realize what he’s been saying in front of his newest roommate. Makoto, however, does, and wonders what that means. Did Rin figure this out before he offered to stay at Makoto’s place? Was this some sort of plan of his? 

The conversation strangely shifts to more innocent memories from elementary school and the topic vanishes with the contents of their now warm, empty bottles of beer.

\--

Haru’s next company visit comes in the first week of April. He takes the couch now that the guest room is full (“You don’t usually take the bathtub when you’re here?”), and because he’s minimalist in his routine, it doesn’t disrupt the fragile one that Rin and Makoto have built.

It’s nice having all three of them under the same roof. Makoto makes an even bigger effort to get back early, so most nights during the week are spent going out for dinner and coming back to the apartment, opting to sit on the three free sides not taken by the couch around the table, resting on the heated tatami mat and talking into the night.

There’s also a double motive in Haru’s arrival this time. He doesn’t pry, doesn’t insist, but instead mentions it in passing after dinner. He and Rin are sitting on the opposite ends of the couch, a back per armrest and feet barely touching in the middle. Makoto listens in on the conversation (asking beforehand if it’s okay because conversations are private and Rin and Haru have a precious and personal connection that he doesn’t want to interfere with) while he cleans the kitchen on Haru’s last night.

“My boss recently found out that I’m good friends with the great Olympian swimmer Matsuoka Rin and wants to know if you want to model for the campaign the spring and summer of next year with the new designer we’re working with.”

“Recently? Haven’t you been working there since before you even graduated?”

The few times Haru blushes, it’s two small patches of pink that seem to complement his eyes. It’s very pretty on him, even now as an adult. “It might’ve slipped during a dinner with the rest of the visual department. She even added she was surprised that I opened up about my outside life for once.”

Rin’s blush on the other hand is large and bright and blends with his hair, his way of his body reacting to the fact that he of all people was the one Haru decided to introduce first to his coworkers. “You know I don’t like the whole contract and having my face splattered everywhere, right?”

“Which is weird, because with your ego, you’d think you’d be all over it.”

“Very funny.” 

“Would you at least consider it? I’ve seen the preliminary designs, and it suits you well. It’ll also look good on me that I got an Olympian, plus it also means we’d get to spend more time together.”

Rin’s blush deepens. “I...I’ll think about it. Only for you though.”

The flicker in Haru’s eyes speaks wonders, matching the turn of the corners of his lips.

When Makoto walks him out the next morning, Haru tells him, “My boss also told me that they don’t need me to come to Tokyo as often anymore, at all really, until next year at least.” His next words come cautiously. “You’ll be okay...right?”

“I’m fine, Haru.” Makoto moves his head to the side and smiles. “Now that Rin’s here, I have plenty of company!”

Haru pouts like a child who’s been told that their pet dog prefers the ugly, wailing newborn that they refuse to call a sibling.

Makoto realizes what he said and quickly apologizes. “You can still come whenever you’re free though! And we can continue to Skype and message each other. It’s not the same when I don’t hear from you everyday anyway, even if it’s just virtually.”

Haru nods. “Keep in touch.”

“I’ll talk to you soon, Haru.”

\--

Of course, life isn’t commercial-perfect and has a tendency to throw these cruel reminders without any warning.

Makoto’s about ready to go straight to his couch and bang his head against the armrest in the hopes of it knocking him out and bringing tomorrow here faster. He was able to resolve all of them, but a child throwing up, two kids getting into a fight and having to be sent home, and being the one to make the decision that one of the dogs was just getting too old and his time has come really takes its toll on a guy.

It gets even worse when the trains are later than usual and the elevators in his building require maintenance so he has to walk all the way up to his floor. His mind is already too exhausted to even fathom about how many steps that would be.

It takes until the eighth floor for Makoto to realize that yeah, he has a roommate now, and no, he can’t see how exhausted Makoto is because he feels bad when others tend on him when they’re probably going through something themselves, so by the twelfth floor, he has his "happy face" masked on. 

He didn’t think he’d actually be right when he sees the living room in a mess, the cushions tossed over and the contents that usually belong on the coffee table strewn over the floor. The human whirlwind himself is collapsed on the couch, body taking up the entire space and an arm thrown over his eyes.

Instantly, Makoto gets a glass of water and nudges Rin’s hand with it, careful so he doesn’t knock it over in a remerging act of anger. 

Luckily, Makoto doesn’t have to worry about cleaning up spare bits of glass, because Rin's hand waves around and is able to grab it successfully. 

“Rough day?” he asks as he sits on the tatami mat on the opposite side of the table, his back facing the TV.

Rin glares at Makoto, but the malice behind it isn’t intended for him.

He takes a few sips of water. “Shitty swim times. I fucked up a few translations and got lectured by my boss when he told me that I was ‘getting too brash’ after I got mad at a coworker. I’m mostly mad about the shitty swim times though, how the fuck did I manage to get a full half-second behind in butterfly than my average? I’m fucked.”

“You’re not. This is one day. And I’d apologize to your coworker and boss if I were you.”

Rin groans and leans his head back farther. He seems to have picked up on the weariness of Makoto’s voice though, the fewer words than he’s used to when Makoto comforts someone, shooting up and staring at the brunet across the table.

“Everything okay with you?”

Makoto doesn’t mean to sigh, but it’s automatic and he tries to cover it up with a, “I’m fine. I just need to get a good night’s rest.”

“Bullshit. Get on here. We can bask in our misery together.”

Makoto succumbs and collapses onto the couch, squeezing into a side so Rin can continue to have enough room to flail his limbs and rest his head over the armrest. Even so, the tight space is making his own tension even worse, so why the fuck not, Makoto nudges for Rin to shift his body a little over so he can plop his head on Rin’s lower abdomen. Despite how cut Rin’s abs are, Makoto’s so tired and he’s rather comfortable in this position, nuzzling his cheek into Rin’s shirt and sighing when he finally closes his eyes.

He startles when he hears a gasp above him though. Rin’s position is still the same, eyes closed and hair spilling over the edge with his head tilted back, but he seems more...relaxed? There’s a small smile on his face in contentment too.

Was Makoto really that far down?

Makoto blanches and gets up immediately. “I’m so sorry Rin, I didn’t mean to -”

Rin flinches and Makoto recoils. Instead of anger though, Rin is still lying in his hazy bliss, sighing, “That felt nice. Don’t worry, just...can you keep doing that?”

“Rubbing my face on your stomach?”

Rin stammers, turning red, “I mean, it worked! Or just like...something similar I guess.”

“Uh, sure.”

Makoto curls up a little more, but thinking about how relaxed Rin looked a minute prior, gets an idea. It’s stupid and his judgment is probably clouded by how tired he is, but hey, if it works, it works.

He starts by hooking his hands around Rin’s waist and running his thumbs up the outline of Rin’s abs etched on his shirt. Makoto looks up at Rin to see if it’s okay for him to continue, and when he gets back a swallow and a nod as approval, moves.

He shifts so their bodies are running parallel, heads facing the wall, feet the kitchen, turning his head so now it’s directly at the seam between Rin’s torso and lower half of his body.

Makoto lifts up Rin’s shirt just a few centimeters so he can start mouthing the sliver of skin as he undoes Rin’s pants, moving down to his hips and then his thighs as eventually he pushes the pants and his boxers down.

He hears a groan and a hiss from a teeth-clenched Rin above him, a wordless demand to go further, but Makoto decides to tease him a bit more. When he can tell that Rin’s about to yell at him to hurry the fuck up, with no warning, he licks up from the base to tip and takes as much of Rin’s dick in his mouth as he can in one go.

The complaints and worries that Rin had gone on about earlier are rolled over, stomped on, and replaced by the keening gasps that scratch his vocal cords, mixing with the messy noises of Makoto sucking on his cock, the occasional buzz from his throat causing Rin’s thighs to shake a little more.

Makoto remembers that there’s still lube under the seat cushion that he stuffed there after that one night with that transferring teacher last May (he’s successful in retrieving it - thank god Rin never found it), popping the lid open and using the same hand to nudge Rin higher. He’d tell him to do so, but he can’t really speak.

Rin obliges anyway, moving up so Makoto can blindly grab a cushion on the floor and put it under him. He lets out a string of swears when Makoto’s slicked finger enters him from the back, dissolving into heavy breathing as it pushes in and out.

It takes a few more minutes, but an aching jaw on Makoto’s part, three fingers, and the slight rub of his thumb into the meeting point of the inside of Rin’s thigh to his hip results in Rin’s hoarse orgasm, his voice just barely poking through and his head leaning back even more, like it’s trying to take charge of its full decapitation and land on the floor.

Rin’s quiet, and Makoto silently watches his friend’s chest decrease in inflation with every few breaths until it back to normal.

When he’s able to collect himself, Rin finally lets out, “Fuck. Oh my god. I feel so much better.”

“That’s good! I’m glad to have helped.” Makoto smiles as he reaches for the tissues right next to the couch. They’re usually on the coffee table when Rin’s not throwing things around, but at least it’s a convenient spot for the moment. He wipes away his mouth and fingers, figuring that he’ll deal with his own boner later. 

Rin can’t help but shake his head and laugh while having no choice but to put back on his soiled clothes. “Only you’d consider giving a blowjob and fingering as a way to help a friend de-stress.”

“Well, orgasms have been proven to help people relax.” Makoto rubs his clean hand against the back of his neck and uses the heel to massage his jaw, making his way off the couch. 

There’s a shove against his shoulder and two seconds later Makoto is on the floor and has a perfect view of the ceiling. Rin makes his way into his field of vision, “You’re not giving me your angelic guilt trip. I know when something’s wrong with you and you definitely had a long day so I’m going to return the favor, damn it.”

Makoto comes not too long after Rin finds a home on Makoto’s neck for his mouth and in Makoto’s pants for his hand. 

Rin’s the first to speak when he falls on top of Makoto and they lay still on the hardwood floor, only saying, “Were the elevators still down when you got back? Man, fuck this building.”

They say nothing more and don’t move, eventually falling asleep. Makoto never realized how comfortable wooden paneling could be.

\--

They don’t talk about it for a week.

If anything, this is comparable to Rin and Rei five years ago and Makoto and Seijuurou seven. It’s a one-time thing, something they’ll laugh about in a few years over drinks, Makoto convinces himself. 

They don’t talk about it for a week until it’s well into the night. Makoto’s hunched over his desk, pushing up the bridge of his glasses no less than twice a minute so he can finish grading a pile of math tests. He usually doesn’t do work so late, but it’s been a bit hard when his ceiling has been trying to cave in from the mixture of dozens of feet bouncing and enthusiastic screams.

A high-pitched squeal from above rings in Makoto's ears, frustrating him that he can't remember if 9 times 8 was 72 or if Osamu was right and it's actually a clean 100.

There’s a harsh knock on Makoto’s door, so he slides his glasses up over his head and turns the knob to see a very angry Rin with developing dark circles under his eyes. Makoto checks his watch: it’s almost 2AM and Rin should’ve well been asleep by now.

Rin scowls while Makoto closes his door behind him. In the low light coming from Rin’s room and combined with his still razor-sharp teeth, it’s rather frightening. 

“I hate youth.”

“You’re twenty-four, Rin. I’m pretty sure you still count as one.” Makoto rubs his eye to adjust to the light.

The scowl on Rin’s face deepens. “Who the fuck even decides to hold a party on a _Wednesday night_? I’m so close to going up there and pummeling them with their stereo.”

“Okay, I suggest _not_ doing that, as tempting as that sounds.” Makoto puts both of his hands on Rin’s shoulders and squeezes lightly to calm him down. 

“Part of me wants to start blaring music to show them how fucking annoying it is. I know you have a heavy metal collection, c’mon, share.”

“Rin.” Makoto sighs.

“Or I could just pound on their door and curse the shit out of them.” 

“Well you do have a tendency to get really loud when you get frustrated. Maybe it’ll overtake the music.”

“What about you Tachibana? Even when you get exasperated, your frustration is what, your voice going up an octave higher?”

“Maybe it’s because you haven’t seen me actually get angry.” Makoto smirks. He leans so his back is against his door and he crosses his arms.

“Oh, I’d love to see that.” Rin steps closer, his trickster smile matching Makoto’s.

“At your expense?”

“Even if it’s probably nothing worse than a puppy barking, I’d rather not. But please feel free to unleash it on those morons upstairs.”

Makoto laughs and relaxes his shoulders. “Though if we’re going back on the loud topic, I do remember Daisuke mentioning that I’m really loud when it comes to good…” 

Makoto’s cheeks burn and he really hopes Rin doesn’t make the connection, much less remember that Daisuke was his long-term relationship in university.

“You’re a screamer? Damn, who would’ve thought.”

Fuck. 

“Hold on, this gives me an idea actually.” Rin grabs Makoto’s hand and leads him to his room, not even bothering to close his door. He sits on his bed, not even asking Makoto to follow, instead, evilly grinning and eyes glittering with impish malice. 

“Um, Rin?”

“Scream.”

“No?”

“I’ll join you! We can pretend we’re doing it, you know, shout, fake some moans, shake the bed a little, let everyone above know that we will not hesitate to let their damn party get in our way of the throes of passionate lovemaking!” 

He finishes this with a tilt of the head back and a rather exaggerated moan. Makoto doesn’t even want to think about what sort of sexual act would lead to something that extreme. 

Rin loudly gasps a few times before screaming and drawing out Makoto’s name until his breath goes out.

“Don’t say my name!” Makoto cries. He also tries not to think about how it turns him on.

“Well you’re the one I’m fake-doing it with, right? Come on, it’s not like they know who we are anyway, and I am not doing this alone.” 

They attempt this for no more than two minutes. Despite Makoto shaking the end of the bed and crying out as intensely as he can, Rin stops mid-scream and just...sits on the bed, staring at him like he decided to down a bottle of soy sauce for fun.

“What are you doing?”

“Pretending I’m having sex?”

“There’s no way you sound like that. You do not wail like a dying, well, whale.”

“I’ll try to sound more natural?”

Rin stops again not even thirty seconds later after they try again, now with eyes shifted to the side, lost in some memory. 

“What? Is it still not working?”

“You didn’t scream last week. What’s that supposed to mean?”

Makoto’s eyebrows scrunch together. He was waiting for last week to be brought up sometime, but not like this. “I’m pretty sure that means it’s hard for me to scream when my mouth can’t really produce sounds when it’s wrapped around a dick.”

Rin’s silent, mouth open in shock. He finally gets out, “That was so hot.”

“Huh?”

“Say it again.”

“The...whole thing?”

“No, idiot. The last part.”

Makoto hesitates, still confused. “When my mouth’s wrapped around a dick?”

“You get way more attractive when you talk dirty. Keep doing it.”

Makoto doesn’t even know how to respond, possibly stating that the last time he mentioned a cock Rin hit him for seeming out of character, but he never gets the chance to as something crashes upstairs - glass most likely - followed by a number of laughs and jeers.

Rin growls and grabs the ends of Makoto’s shirt, pulling him on top of the redhead and causing an extreme dip of the mattress. 

Hands still on the shirt, Rin yanks the article off and hisses into Makoto’s ear, bottom lip brushing on the shell of Makoto’s ear, top against his metal cuff, “I’m stressed. I have two meetings in the morning and I can’t dare fall behind on my workout regime. I need to sleep. Help.”

The party ends up long forgotten (thank god) and they probably aren’t as loud as they were pretending to be (oh well), but the night results in Makoto fucking into Rin, his hand on Rin’s hips and Rin’s legs locked around his waist. He doesn’t know if Daisuke was right, honestly, he’s really not paying attention to himself, because he’s too busy focusing on how Rin’s Adam’s Apple bobs and how the pitch, but constant high volume, of his voice changes with each shift and thrust.

Rin mumbles into Makoto’s sweaty but cooling shoulder afterwards that he’s glad that he was able to hear Makoto yell a spectrum of colorful swears like a desperate prayer and is happy that Daisuke was right.

Makoto mutters in agreement but can’t help but wonder that, wait, who’s Daisuke again?

\--

There routine doesn’t seem to have changed much. What does change is how much less time Makoto has been spending in his own room.

It’s become an unspoken rule that they only fuck when stressed, because it does help calm them down and the cuddling afterwards is a nice soothing bonus, even if Rin refuses to call the action what it actually is. 

Makoto does start picking up on a few more things though. Like Haru said, Rin does have a tendency to talk in his sleep, though it’s more murmuring in incoherent Japanese, the occasional unfamiliar but undeniable English word thrown in. He likes to keep his closet open, which displays his clothes separated first by occasion and then by color. His bookshelf over his desk is the same too, though that’s mostly reserved for English textbooks and swimming guides.

Rin always lays out his outfit for the next day, hanging it over his chair so it doesn’t crease. His swim duffel is always prepared. On the seat of the chair is the outfit Rin plans to jog in at the asscrack of dawn. Makoto can tell exactly what time this is because Rin’s phone is the devil and wakes both of them up then, usually resulting in Makoto groaning and pulling his pillow over his ears.

There are more things Makoto picks up about Rin too. He’s fond of biting lips and nipping during making out. He likes to hold hands after sex. He prefers being the little spoon, but every once in a while pulls Makoto’s back against his chest and pulls up so he can tuck his head on Makoto’s shoulder. He doesn’t like being too warm when he sleeps, so he’s fine when blanket-hogging Makoto steals the comforter away.

\--

The coffee in front of him is a little too dark, so Makoto remedies this by adding just a dash more of flavored creamer to give the drink a color that more resembles his skin tone. For good measure, he tosses the rest of the sugar crystals in the small packet and watches them dissolve into his coffee, stirring it a few times until he’s finally content with his drink.

It’s quite the effort to retrieve the keys so he can unlock his classroom door, but Makoto almost spills his coffee instead when he sees that a couple of the students have come back early, waiting outside for him to let them in. 

“Rika-chan, Keiko-chan! You’re here so early!” Makoto cries when he holds the door open for them to run through into the classroom.

The two girls stand in front of his desk, beaming as they bow. There’s a bright green parcel in Keiko’s hands, matching the neon frames of her glasses.

“We wanted to give you a present sensei!”

The warm feeling in Makoto’s stomach shows itself by his grateful smile. “Thank you so much,” he says, taking the poorly (but still perfectly to him) wrapped gift, which reveals itself to be a handful of mini-cookies, carefully wrapped in a shiny cellophane bag, wrapped in a neat blue bow. “This looks delicious! Did you two make it yourselves?”

“Well, mostly my mom.” Rika keeps her head down, digging her foot into the ground. Before she can continue, Keiko blurts out, “They’re really good though! And we still helped. I added all the chocolate chips!”

“They look fantastic, thank you so much.” Makoto repeats with a grin. He takes one of the coin-sized cookies and makes a show of dropping it in his mouth. He has to give it to Rika’s mother (and of course the two of them), the way the chocolate melts in his mouth and the sugar releases in bursts of sweetness is damn amazing.

When he finishes another cookie, he can’t help but ask, “Is there a specific reason for this gift?”

“Well,” Keiko blushes, “You’ve been so happy lately, and it makes us happy!”

“I have?”

“Yeah!” Keiko smiles, “You smile all the time, but it seems so much wider lately, and you’re all glow-y and your eyes glitter when you’re sitting at your desk and lost in your own thoughts.”

“Well, you’re very attentive, are you?” Makoto leans over the desk, winking and wagging his finger. “Let’s see if we can apply that to our math lessons, shall we?”

“But math is so _boring_ and sensei is not!”

Rika opens her mouth, hesitates, but adds, “When my brother got a girlfriend, he reminded me of you now.”

Keiko tilts her head and blinks. “Sensei? You haven’t said anything for a while.”

Even with that, Makoto doesn’t think much of it, considering the other factors that could go into his even sunnier disposition, like his job going well and the weather’s getting nicer.

He doesn’t think much of what Keiko and Rika said until later that week. 

“I folded your laundry and it’s sitting on the dining counter.” Rin tells Makoto from the couch when the latter walks at the end of his day, gesturing to the organized pile of clothes with a nod of his head before going back to his butterfly timings since moving to Tokyo on his laptop.

Makoto’s brows furrow together. “We still had enough detergent for both of our loads?”

“Just barely, but I may have convinced one of the guys from the sixth floor who was also doing his to share.” Rin winks.

“Rin! That’s not very fair.”

The redhead only shrugs, getting up to get something from the fridge. “Wanna hear something weird that Kojiro told me today?”

“Hm?” Makoto nonchalantly replies, going through to make sure all of his clothes made it out of the dryer alive.

“Apparently I’ve been ‘more pleasant to be around with at work’ and ‘my laughter sounds richer now that it can be heard more.’ What is that even supposed to mean? I’m a fucking ball of sunshine.”

“Wasn’t he the one you told to go suck a cow dick a couple of months ago?”

“Not my fault that he spilled coffee all over me.” Rin pops the tab of his soda and takes a gulp. “Though that was a bit harsh of me. Also not one of my best insults.” 

He takes a few more sips and continues with a wave of his hand, “Anyway, he said that something positive must have happened to me and whatever it was, he’s really happy for me and he said he hopes it continues. Weird, huh?”

“Yeah, weird.”

\--

“Fuck, _fuck_ , Rin, more, plea-” the rest of Makoto’s begging words are buried into the pillow he’s trying not to have suffocate him, but it’s all he can do as he pushes his hips up higher to match each of Rin’s thrusts down into him.

There was something about traffic and an extremely rude customer at the shelter and honestly Makoto has no idea why he complained that today was more tense than usual because he doesn’t know whether the incredible and tightening pain in his chest or his dick is stronger.

He feels movement, Rin adjusting himself so he’s over Makoto’s back. The shallow valley between Makoto’s shoulderblades feels wet when Rin openly kisses the space, writing over each tiny stroke of Makoto’s tattoo with his tongue a few times before trying to mark it with a bright red. Makoto can feel the ends of Rin’s hair lightly tickle his skin, the tips that dip into the saliva heightening the tingles and feeling that much more amazing.

The sensations on the back of his body are too much, too much is happening there and he needs something to balance it out. Makoto’s brain miraculously is able to tell his arm to reach his cock, but before he can grab it, Rin’s already there, ready to pump him dry.

Makoto’s release comes with a spoken tapestry woven out of Rin’s name, wordless cries, and callings to god that would have the religious recoil in horror.

Even when Rin pulls out, Makoto doesn’t move. His ass is still angled up into the ceiling and his head is still immersed in the pillow so all he can see is black.

A hand digs into Makoto’s lower back, straightening his body onto the mattress. “As cozy as that looks, that’s definitely not an ideal sleeping position.”

Makoto curls himself in whatever blanket he can blindly grab tucks his body in while Rin throws away the condom and the torn packet left on the bedside table. He thinks he hears a beep go off, but he can’t bring himself to care; he’s way too comfortable right now.

“Do you want me to check that for you?” He can vaguely hear Rin say when he comes back into bed.

“Hmm?”

“You have a text.” 

“Yeah. Prob’ Haru or somethmph.” Makoto rolls over to dig his face further into his pillow.

“It’s Ran.”

“Huh?” Makoto jerks up and takes the phone away from Rin. “Why is she texting after 1AM? Is she hurt?”

“It could be because she’s a teenager and most don’t sleep until the time is back into the single digits on the weekends.”

Makoto ignores Rin and tries to open the message as quickly as he can, breathing a sigh of relief when he reads what Ran’s actually saying.

“My parents are going to take a weekend trip to the cabins in a couple of weeks and she’s wondering whether her and Ren can come visit during then.” Makoto looks at Rin and questions, “Is that fine with you?”

Rin’s genuinely shocked. “What? Yeah, they’re your siblings, do whatever. You’d let Kou over anytime, right?”

Makoto smiles and tells his little sister that yes, it’s perfectly okay and he’s looking forward to seeing them soon.

He put his phone under the pillow and turns to see a lying down Rin, arm tucked under his head and looking at Makoto like he’s ready to eat him whole.

“What’s up?”

“Guests coming over. Having to clean the place and entertaining for a good 48 hours. Tends to build up nerves, don’t you think?”

Makoto considers this and after deliberating about this for a good ten seconds, he nods. “I think it counts,” and moves closer so he can pull Rin’s mouth onto his and begin Round II.

(when Rin talks in his sleep that night, Makoto can just barely make out him admitting that he kisses Makoto’s tattoo because it gives him strength, and he wishes he was strong as Makoto is)

\--

Even at seventeen, Ren and Ran don’t hesitate to scurry into the living room, properly tackling Makoto after they get inside and leaving Rin to handle the little luggage of two backpacks and two small duffels.

“This place feels so much more cozy! Look at all the cool stuff that’s been added here now.”

“Your video game collection looks so awesome, can we play tonight onii-chan?”

Makoto laughs, changing the conversation. “Have you gotten taller? I just saw you guys in December!”

Ran bounces back and forth on the balls of her feet, straightening to gives herself just a little bit more height. “Mama says we’re almost as tall as you now! I’m still taller than Ren though.”

“Are not!” 

Rin smirks. “Haru and I had a competition about who’d end up taller. Of course, I did, and carried him bridal style.”

Ran whips her head to look at Ren and gives a smug look that has Ren violently shaking his head and going, “No. No. Onii-chan, tell her to stop looking at me like that!”

“I’m already four centimeters taller than you, time’s running out you know.”

Rin takes Ren to his room to show him his Olympic medals while Makoto and Ran go to the kitchen.

“You must be a good roommate.” Ran tells him when he hands her a bottle of water.

“Huh?”

“Kou-san’s been messaging me that ever since he’s moved in, Rin-niisan’s hasn’t been as grouchy.”

Makoto thinks of the comment Rin made a few weeks ago about his coworkers and feels his heart beat a little faster. “Really?”

“Yeah, mostly because he hasn’t been trying to kill Seijuurou-senpai or threaten him when Kou-san talks about him.”

They both laugh as Ren and Rin return, the latter raising an eyebrow. “Is something funny?”

“Ran’s probably told onii-chan about the time she completely embarrassed herself over that guy from her English class.” Ren laughs.

“Ren!”

Ren turns to Rin, “She tripped over another girl’s backpack while practically running to him and then fell face-first into the ground!”

Makoto has to lecture Ran later that night after Ren downs the carton of milk because his his dinner “accidentally” ended up receiving half the bottle of hot sauce.

He later lectures Rin that it’s not a very good idea to encourage Ran’s behavior by laughing hysterically at poor Ren the entire time.

“What? I was the one checking up on him while you were off lecturing Ran.”

“Are you upset about it? Need to take the tension off?” Rin grins.

Makoto smiles. “Tempting, but I’d rather not when my siblings are across the hall in my room.” He pats his makeshift bed on the couch before turning back to Rin. “But I think I may need some when they leave. What with adjusting back to our everyday routine and all.”

The light picks up in Rin’s eyes. “I’m keeping you to your word, Tachibana.”

He does, and two days later, he reminds Rin of it when he joins him in his morning shower.

\--

As time passes, the actual qualifications for their unspoken rule have seemed to get looser with time. By May, after Rin rides Makoto down into the couch cushions because “the water was taking too long to get hot,” Makoto wonders if that was really a huge stressor for Rin to push him onto the couch when he was fresh out of his shower with his new complaint. He hadn’t even bothered to put on a towel, just leaving the bathroom and letting the steam follow, body and hair dripping wet and leaving hand and body prints all over Makoto’s clothes.

Makoto tries to bring this new issue up to Rin, but he doesn’t seem to be paying attention, commenting that the next time Kou and Seijuurou come to visit, he has the perfect place for where his sister’s boyfriend can sit.

Now, when May has led its way into June, Rin’s on said and since-cleaned couch, long legs bent so they form an inverted V, the balls of his feet curled around the edge of the coffee table. On his legs rests a heavy packet of something in English, a highlighter twirling through his fingers, pausing every so often so he can cover a key point in a florescent purple. His hair’s pulled back into a half ponytail, but his bangs have managed to escape and flutter over his eyelashes.

Makoto slips off his gloves and places them on the sinks edge, his task of cleaning the kitchen complete. He makes his way over to Rin, and when he has his attention, tells him, “I’m gonna go shower.”

“Sounds good. I’ll meet you in my room.”

Makoto nods and leans down, tilting Rin’s chin up with just a finger to kiss him. It’s chaste and short, just lips and the promise of a short parting, but most importantly, it’s entirely natural, with Rin moving forward to eagerly respond.

When Makoto goes to his room to gather his sleepwear, he immediately pauses upon closing the door, bringing his fingers to his slightly shaking lips. They’ve kissed before, sure, but this is the first time that they’ve done so casually and lightly, without it leading to or in the midst of sex. He didn’t even think about it; it was instinct acting up and it seemed to imply to be the same case for Rin too.

He’s able to break himself from his stupor and walks over to his dresser, now thinking of what Rin’s thinking about right now. Did he just go back to his work, like the kiss was no big deal and he expected it to happen? Or did he think it wasn’t a big deal because kisses are nothing to him? What if he’s completely shocked once it settles in that Tachibana fucking Makoto kissed him out of nowhere, the freak.

The true pale pine wood reveals itself through lines embedded in a blanket of dust when Makoto glides his fingers off of the top of the dresser after taking out his pajamas and closing the drawer shut with his other hand. He turns his hand over and looks at the pads of dust collected on the ends. When was the last time he bothered dusting his room? When was the last time he spent time in here that was longer than getting clothes or retrieving extra lube and condoms when Rin ran out?

He notes his bed is still slightly unkempt in the same way it was around two weeks ago. There are creases where his body curled up in a ten-minute nap after a particularly long day of work, but he hasn’t used it since then. Makoto moves to sit on the edge of his bed, dropping his pajamas on his lap as extra padding for his elbows while places his head in his hands.

Makoto jumps at a knock on his door. At least Rin still respects the fact that he not come in, instead, his voice ringing through the wood, “You still haven’t showered yet? Come on, you’re stinking up the place.”

The bright red numbers on the clock by Makoto’s bed tell him he’s been in his room for almost twenty minutes, the longest he’s been in here for a month.

The kiss isn't brought up again.

\--

“Makoto-san!” Izumi eagerly knocks on the frame of the classroom door, all bubbles and excitement. Even though his colleague has a few years on him and her hair falls in chestnut ringlets, her short stature and passionate nature reminds him of a certain devilish blond.

Izumi zooms straight to his desk upon seeing that his classroom too has had no students enter before class has started for the day and slams her hands over a textbook. “Have you checked your email yet?”

“Huh?”

Slammed palms start to bounce in a hectic cadence. “Check it check it check it!”

“Okay, okay!” Makoto laughs and waves his mouse to wake up the flat desktop computer screen. It takes a few more keystrokes and clicks of the mouse to finally get to his assigned work email - there are a few new messages in bold consisting of notices of meetings and requests to cover lunch duty - but it’s the one from the supervisor, announcing the results of something Makoto has completely forgotten about for months now. His name stands among a list including four other names that he doesn’t know, from cities dispersed around the country.

“Do you see it? You got into that American program! I’m so happy for you Makoto-san, I knew you would!”

He doesn’t know how he’s able to muster out a thanks to Izumi, because _how did he completely forget about this_? 

He’d been well prepared since December too; he’d already gotten his Visa, let the school know he might be absent for the academic year’s second semester, made a savings account to cover the full rent’s cost for the five months he’ll be gone because he didn’t want to lead on a potential sublet…

The full rent. He’d only need half now, wouldn’t he? Because of Rin. 

He looks at the date that used to be etched into his brain because, duh, it’s the day of the announcement. June 16th. The program starts the last week of July to have the teachers prepare for a month before the students come tumbling in, ends just as the Christmas break for American schools start in the middle of December. 

Add that to the fact that he needs an additional week to adjust to the great city of New York, it makes sense that the day of his flight is just under a month from today, July 14th.

Makoto needs to find a way to break it to Rin that he’s going to be abandoning him for almost half a year in less than a month.

The excitement over the news still bubbles over like popped champagne, but there’s the fighting knot in his chest that hits his eyes and blurs the paragraphs on the screen about further instructions into waves of black and white. 

“Makoto-san? Are you okay?” Izumi claps her hands and her blue eyes bore into Makoto.

Makoto masks on a smile. “I’m ecstatic! This is great news, thank you for letting me know!”

“You have to keep in touch! I’m so jealous!”

He only responds with a small smile and nod, grateful that’s enough to let her ramble on, but right now, all Makoto wants to do right now is battle the knot in his stomach that guilt only seems to be pulling tighter.

\--

A bandage. He’s not going to prolong this and make Rin’s potential reaction worse, Makoto’s just going to rip the bandage off and get it over with and pray that things won’t get too bad. They won’t, right?

Makoto takes his time closing the door and taking his things off before walking into the living room. “Uh...Rin?”

“What’s up?” Rin looks up from his computer on the counter. “I have a lot to rant to you about today, shit.”

 _Don’t ask him about his day yet. This needs to come first._ “Uh...so, remember how I used to suck at English?”

“Are they firing you because you still butcher it?” Rin laughs, moving to the couch and motioning for Makoto to follow.

“Ha...yeah.” Makoto weakly chuckles, joining Rin, but making sure he’s sitting as far away as he can. “I, well, I’ve gotten better, but I think I may need a teacher from someone who’s fluent.”

“After all these years? Why’s that?”

“Uh. Well. I got into a teaching program in America for five months?” Makoto closes his eyes and braces for the worst.

“What? Makoto, that’s awesome! I’m so proud of you. I can make a schedule and we can start right away. Don’t want you embarrassing yourself in front of a bunch of children.”

Oh thank god. 

“Is it next year? I think I’m gonna take up Haru’s offer, so he can probably stay here in your place. Damn, I’m gonna miss this though, but that’ll be plenty of enough

“Um.” Makoto takes a breath. “I leave next month.”

Rin’s eyes squint so they’re snakelike. “What?”

“I have enough money to cover the rent! And I didn’t honestly think I’d get in, I was really surprised. I know it’s last minute and I’m so sorry, the program was really stupid in that regard and -”

Rin gets up and rushes into the hallway and grabs the doorknob to Makoto’s room. 

“What are you doing?” Makoto catches up to Rin.

“Well you’re fucking leaving for five months so I’ll be all by myself, I may as well figure out what this place has to offer since I’ll be here alone!” Rin roars, opening the door and coming to a standstill. 

“Wow, a bedroom. Look at all this privacy I’m invading.”

“Cut it out, Rin!” Makoto’s heartbeat quickens, joining the chaos swirling in his chest.

Rin waves his arms around as if his hands are chopping down on air Makoto only wanted himself to breathe. 

“Don’t you need help packing? I should grab some of your things for you.”

Makoto’s eyes follow Rin’s body making his way to his closet, hand reaching out to grab a fistful of hangers and throw them to the ground.

Makoto’s hand clasps on Rin’s wrist before he can do anything.

“Rin. Stop.” 

This isn’t the way he used scolds Ren and Ran when they do something wrong. This isn’t how he expressed his annoyance when the swim club was getting a bit too out of hand. Not the way he speaks to his students when it’s almost the weekend and the hyperness level is getting a little too extreme.

Here, he’s frustrated. Exasperated. Angry. His voice is cold, low, not whispered, but quietly enough so the one who needs to hear it is the only one.

And here it isn’t his siblings or teammates he’s responsible for as captain or students who he proceeds with caution with. This is with Rin who should know better.

Rin takes a few shaky breaths, still, but once he’s over it, he yanks his arm away and walks out to the kitchen.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me until now.”

“Yeah,” Makoto scoffs when he joins him, “It could’ve been the day before. And instead of six months, it could’ve been four years. I can come back for a bit too you know. But you know. Not tell you.”

Makoto’s eyes widen and he hastily shakes his hands. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry.”

“Whatever.” Rin goes to the fridge to take out a beer, downing half the bottle in one go as he leans against the counter.

It’s silent.

To no surprise, Makoto’s the first to speak. However, he surprisingly decides to touch upon the taboo topic that will no doubt result in another argument.

“Are you annoyed because you won’t have someone to be your fuck buddy when it’s convenient?”

“What the hell are you talking about, Makoto. We’ve only been having sex when something’s causing us to tense up.”

“We had sex three days ago for no reason.” Makoto points out.

“The...microwave didn’t warm up my food all the way.” Rin says this slowly, like he forgot his big stressor until he needed to remember it now.

“And that stressed you out? Rin, we’ve been having sex for no reason for a while.”

“And?”

“We’ve been doing this for months and haven’t talked about it at all. I care about you, Rin, and our friendship is too precious to destroy with throwing just sex into it.”

“So? This is stupid.” Rin drains the rest of the beer and places the bottle on the counter. He makes way to go to his room, Makoto hastily going after him. He’s just reached the hallway when Makoto corners him, bracketing his arms around Rin’s head and casting him in a shadow, forcing him to do nothing else but put his back to the wall and meet Makoto’s eyes.

Here, Makoto takes the risk. He pulls his angry voice again, boldly asking two tones above a whisper, “Where is this going? What am I to you? Are you just continuing your tradition? Like you said, I’m your roommate, so we fuck, right? Is this another check on your list for you?” He wants to mention about how even though they’ve only been roommates for a few months instead of, say, a year with Max and two with Nitori, they started off as friends first. For years. But it already took a lot of courage out of him to even ask the questions he did.

They still seem to be effective though since Rin averts his gaze, and from their lack of distance, Makoto can see the sheen of tears on top of Rin’s angry glare. 

Makoto curls his fingers into the wall in their bracket around Rin’s head. Despite being annoyed, he keeps a comforting tone when he asks, “Well?”

“It’s not like that.” Rin growls under his breath, laced with annoyance and anger and beer.

“Rin,” Makoto begs, “You have to talk to me. Not just because I’m your roommate or friend, but as someone who cares about you, knows that when it comes to the deeper issues, you bottle them up.”

“That’s rich, coming from you.” Rin rolls his eyes.

Makoto ignores this and says, “Rin. Please.”

Silence. And then -

“Fine, you want me to talk? Big fucking surprise, I really like you!”

Makoto remains still and lets his jaw fall open, needing some time to process this new information. Rin doesn’t seem to care for his reaction though or even if he reciprocates his feelings, since he pushes the statue-like Makoto out of the way and removes himself from the wall, racing towards the front door.

“Rin!”

“You know, for a guy who constantly seeks and reads how others are feeling so you can help where you can, you’re really fucking stupid for not seeing this.”

Rin grabs his jacket off the hook on the wall after slipping on his shoes, kicking the other pairs over that get in his way, responding and ending the conversation with a slam of the door that rings throughout the entire apartment.

He wants so badly to chase after him and see if he’s okay, but all Makoto can do is numbly walk over to the couch, sit down, and rub his palms over his face, digging his fingers into his eyelids and groaning into his palms.

The slow rumble outside the window leads to a downpour of rain, and Makoto can’t help but wonder if Rin’s expecting some sort of grand gesture where Makoto pulls him under a streetlight, the two of them soaking wet while he confesses that he’s always felt the same way, resulting in Makoto lifting Rin into his arms and leading to dripping hair, peeling off clothes sticking to the skin, passionate “I love you” sex. 

Instead he calls Rin, more concerned to see if he’s okay walking in the rain and if he has an umbrella on him.

There are two rings and it goes straight to voicemail.

The remnants of Rin’s confession still hang heavy in the living room, like a shroud that’s slowly closing in on Makoto. 

_I really like you._

Makoto should know how he feels back. Rin’s a friend, now a roommate, and one he can’t imagine without in his daily routine. It’s like Haru, but with Rin, they live together, they rely on each other for things that are vitally important. They’ve been hooking up for a while, and it’s been fantastic.

But...he doesn’t know.

\--

Rin doesn’t come back for three days. It’s less likely because Rin decided to cave, he’s much too stubborn, but more so with the fact that the hotel he was probably staying at was adding up.

Time, like it does to everyone, has changed Makoto. Is he more assertive? Sure. More sure of himself? Yeah, he’s been living alone for year until recently just fine, right?

But Makoto still worries about Rin and feels so fucking guilty. The back of his mind tells him _it’s not all your fault. He has to apologize too,_ but Makoto’s been able to mute that voice the second it reveals itself for years now, so like the letters back when they parted at twelve and the phone calls when they (not really) reunited at sixteen, Makoto communicates first.

And like the letters and phone calls, his texts, emails, and phone calls all go ignored.

Makoto gives up halfway through the second day, because really, Makoto thinks he should’ve caught on to the fact that Rin doesn’t respond to him by now.

He returns while Makoto’s asleep (back in his own, now unfamiliar room), and the only indication of that is through Makoto finding Rin’s toiletries back in their proper place one morning (they had gone missing before Makoto came back from work the next day along with some things from Rin’s room). His presence following his return is there, palpable, but not entirely visible.

Even with Makoto’s feeble attempts, he never sees Rin, through routine going back to what it was when he first moved in and cranked up to ten. The house is empty when Makoto wakes up, still so when Makoto returns. 

The beer bottle that Rin downed that night has vanished, completely forgotten about by Makoto and probably tossed by Rin, and if the latter is annoyed that it was sitting there for days, he doesn’t say anything about it.

It feels like when Rin returned from Australia, but so much worse. Unlike the wall that Rin had built between them last time, this one is covered with layers of their domesticity and shared living patterns, laughs about their days over dinner, late nights of the two of them in bed, earlier nights of the two of them pressed against each other.

Makoto feels like he’s living with a ghost.

\--

When Makoto leaves, only Haru and the twins see him off at the airport.

New York is huge, bright, beautiful, and so are the students, and Makoto greatly appreciates the change in his life.

Skype dates with Haru happen three times a week, the twins and his parents once. He checks in with a few of his university friends via email, and is even able to get a handful of conversations with Nagisa, Rei, and Kou and Seijuurou.

Social media does wonders, and even though Makoto is too busy exploring or working to check as often as he usually does, but it’s a good way for him to see how everyone he cares about back home are doing.

He never talks to Rin, but as the months go by, Facebook shows that he’s still alive and smiling. 

Five months are over before Makoto can even process it though, and by the end, he’s ready to go home, even if the other one there may not want to see him ever again.

\--

Makoto doesn’t know what he expects when Haru drops him off at his apartment complex. 

“Do you want me to come in?” Haru raises his eyebrows while grabbing Makoto’s other suitcase from the trunk. 

Makoto shakes his head, giving just a small smile when he closes the back door. “Thanks for offering though, but I’m okay. You have a deadline coming up soon anyway, don’t you? Focus on that.”

Haru simply raises his shoulders. He slips into the driver’s seat and rolls down the window, resting his arms on the sill and gazing up at Makoto. The January chill has Haru’s slim figure shrouded in a navy coat, highlighting his eyes, which right now feel a lot more intimidating than they usually are.

“He’s calmed down a lot you know. Well, as calm as Rin can get.”

“Thanks, Haru.” Like everything Makoto says to his best friend, his words are genuine.

Haru smiles. “I heard baths are always good for relaxing if things don’t get better.” The engine revs up and Haru turns back one more time. “Call me later. It’ll be nice to have my phone blow up with notifications from people other than my boss and Rin.”

“Do you ever answer any of those calls?”

“I always respond to my boss. I should pay more attention to Rin though, shouldn’t I?’

“Haru!”

They part with small smiles (hugging would just be ridiculous through an open window), Makoto demands that Haru text him the second he gets back, and then it’s just Makoto on the sidewalk with two heavy suitcases.

He doesn’t quite know what to expect when he walks in, but he knows he didn’t predict Rin sitting on the couch, downing his water bottle before placing it down on the table, joining its chocolate cupcake neighbor. It’s perfectly shaped, with green sprinkles shaved on top.

“I know it’s a few months late, but you weren’t here, and I didn’t say anything back then, so. Happy belated birthday.” Rin says to the TV. 

“Thanks.” Makoto smiles. He drops his things off quickly in his room, washing up before carefully going back to the living room.

“What’s on TV?” He asks, leaning down to take the cupcake.

“Small talk, really?” Rin breaks his focus from the television and looks at Makoto. “You were just in New York fucking City for almost half a year, surely you have stories.”

Rin closes his eyes before facing Makoto again. “Let’s just. Not talk about last time. We’re good friends, and we’re above that.”

“Yeah.” Makoto nods, relieved. He jumps on the space next to Rin on the couch (not pressed up against him or on the far end, but at a happy medium) and starts, “Did you know that New Yorkers have this twist in their accent?”

So things go back to relatively normal. It’s their friendship from when they used to swim as children and after (properly) reuniting. It feels like their joint practices or when the five of them used to hang out all the time before they and Haru graduated. It’s promised meetups while attending university and cheering each other on, whether it be at professional swimming competitions or graduations.

While the ugly wall between them has been torn down, there’s still the stump, heavy layers and all still included. Makoto tries to step over it, is pretty successful at it, but knows its presence is still there and they have to talk about it sometime.

\--

Kou’s announcement isn’t come with a phone call or an update on Facebook, instead, with an impromptu arrival at their apartment during one weekend in late February.

“Kou-chan? Seijuurou?” Makoto’s more than happy to invite them in and immediately offer them something, but he’s also very confused. He also notices that Kou does her best to keep her hands behind her back and Seijuurou’s hands stay in his pockets, including immediately after he grabs Makoto in a giant bear hug that has him considering calling a chiropractor for after they leave.

“I texted onii-chan that Seijuurou and I were coming over around three, and it is…” Kou glances at the microwave clock, “2:58! So honestly, he should’ve been ready for us by now.” It’s a statement that should sound normal, so the rise in her voice and the goofy grin that matches her boyfriend’s is a bit...odd.

On cue, a gruff voice comes from under the bill of a baseball cap. “Oh, Kou, you’re here already.”

“Matsuoka!” Seijuurou grins, preparing for Attack of the Hugs: the Sequel, but Rin’s prepared and swiftly moves out of the way, instead, pulling his sister into one instead.

“You sounded so mysterious in your texts; what’s up?”

Kou and Seijuurou both look over at Makoto, hesitant, and he immediately wonders if he did something wrong.

“It’s...private? Makoto-senpai, would it be okay if we could just talk to on-”

“Whatever you’re going to say is more than fine to say in front of Makoto.” Rin interrupts. He glares at Seijuurou, as if the news better be something that’s fine with sharing with a close friend along with the sibling of half the couple.

“Okay good!” Kou quickly snaps back into her ecstatic mode, ready to burst, clapping her hands together. There’s a gleam on one of her fingers, a sparkle that catches the light, and before Makoto can even ask -

“We’re getting married!” Seijuurou and Kou yell.

Makoto automatically blurts out, “Wow, congratulations!” and leans across the table to hug them both.

Seijuurou and Kou keep on their shit-eating grins, but join Makoto’s silence as they all turn to stare at Rin, who surprisingly hasn’t done anything for the past few minutes. He hasn’t even attempted to pummel Seijuurou yet, let alone the second he heard the announcement, which is the biggest shock to all three of them. 

Still frozen, Rin manages to get out, “H-how?”

“It was actually Kou who proposed.” Seijuurou begins, looking at Kou like he can’t believe she’s real. It’s the same look he’s been giving her for years, with a sprinkle of more love added in each time. “We came here for a simple weekend trip and were walking through the Rikugien Garden, and Kou started going on some spiel about love and her eyes started misting…” Seijuurou usual boisterous voice fades out and he tightens his hand around Kou’s. It should be nauseating, but Makoto thinks it’s adorable, expressed through the smile that mirror’s the couple’s.

Kou vigorously nods. “We wanted to tell everyone personally and as soon as possible, and who better to start with than onii-chan who lives right in the city!”

“Thanks for including me in that too then, Kou-chan.” Makoto humbly says.

Her smile gets even bigger, if it’s at all possible. “When you’ve known and cared about someone for a long time, it’s worth sharing. Finding the one you love spending everyday with, even if they’re terribly idiotic at times...that natural flow, knowing that whatever struggles either of you go through, the other will help you, because they’re your partner and teammate and if you go down, they’ll go with you.”

Makoto tries his hardest not to look at Rin, but from the very edge of his peripheral vision, he can tell that Rin is doing the same with him.

When Rin finally gets himself together and hugs Kou and even claps Seijuurou's back in congratulations, the four go out for celebratory drinks and dessert. It’s late by the time Makoto and him return after seeing Seijuurou and Kou off to their hotel, and the first thing Rin does the second they’re in the living room is drag his feet up to Makoto and plant his forehead on his shoulder.

“My little sister’s getting married.” Rin says into Makoto’s shirt. 

Makoto gently brushes his fingers through Rin’s hair, resting his chin onto the top of the mass of red strands. “She’s ready. They’ve been together five years and she’s smart. Seijuurou’s a good guy too, you know that.”

Rin breaks away to look straight at Makoto. He raises his eyebrows, as if he wants to say something more, but ends up sighing, gently pushing Makoto away. “I should get to bed.”

Makoto calls out before Rin can retreat back into his room, friendly smiling. “Night, Rin.”

“Night.” He doesn’t look back at Makoto, and the door quietly shuts behind him.

Ran messages Makoto right before he sleeps with the news that he already learned a few hours prior, except her way of telling him includes an excessive amount of tildes and exclamation marks, with a few emoticons for good measure. Knowing his own little sister, Makoto expects her to take no more than twelve hours to insist that she ask her elder friend if she can help prepare the wedding. The two of them working together causes Makoto to shudder.

Makoto replies and turns so his body’s facing his bedside table, the light of the neon red of his clock shining into his face. He squints, thinking of matching hair and eyes, Kou’s words about love still ringing in his head.

Yeah, he concludes, he feels - he’s _felt_ \- that way about another Matsuoka for a while.

\--

The eraser at the end of Makoto’s pencil makes a padded _thump_ in a steady, muted beat against the stack of papers. He’s so close to finishing these animal adoption forms for the month, but he can’t bring himself to finish.

The beat is interrupted by the thud of a crinkled paper bag and something inside of it, and Makoto looks up and doesn’t quite know how to react to the person on the other side of the counter.

“Rin?”

“I’m way ahead of my training schedule so my trainer forced me to take today off. Thought you’d be hungry, so.” Rin pushes the paper bag even closer to Makoto, who notices the logo stamped on, opens it up, and sees a hastily wrapped burger and a carton of french fries that smell fattening but delicious.

“I thought you hated fast food.”

“I do, but I’m not you, and McDonalds was the closest, cheapest, and fastest option." 

Makoto smiles and thanks him, using his elbows to rest so he can hold his burger in one hand and his pencil in the other, choosing now to go back to the adoption papers now that he has something in his system.

He can hear Rin walking to the animal site, steps ceasing to make noise every so often as he stares to look through the thin metal bars. “Little pests.”

“Rin! They need a home.” Makoto puts down his half-eaten burger and joins Rin in the back. 

Rin rolls his eyes, but his facade shatters the instant he looks at the kitten section. Even with his relaxed shoulders, hands in pocket, leisurely cool-guy stroll, the thin line of his mouth holding back his grin is the proof of his needing to hold back on a full on beeline.

“Can I?” Rin looks up at Makoto, gesturing to the cage locks.

Makoto nods, leaning down to one of the bottom ones specifically and pulling out a kitten just barely bigger than the size of his hand. Her eyes are black and her fur a rich brown, almost like she was birthed from the dirt.

Rin gapes at her, and Makoto can’t blame him.

“This one’s my favorite. We got her before I left for New York; she was found sick after a bad storm on the side of the road during the middle of the night. It’s amazing that she wasn’t run over.” Makoto grins, rubbing her small belly with a single finger.

“Why didn’t you adopt her then?”

“I’ve considered it. Maybe hide her in my closet and use that as a reason from banning people from my room.”

“That was a valid reason for someone like you, okay!” Rin barks.

“I guess I felt bad because I knew that I couldn’t take of her all by myself. It’d be nice to share her with someone, but we’d have to be able to do it together and not have to worry about fighting over splitting her if we go our separate ways or something. Almost like adopting a child I guess.”

Rin looks like he’s heavily considering this idea, but then his eyes widen and he quickly coughs. “So, uh, what time do you get off again? I’m thinking of getting take-out tonight. How does Indian sound to you?”

\--

Makoto is grateful that March means lighter clothing, only taking off his spring jacket before going to the kitchen and grabbing an apple.

It’s not until he’s halfway into the fruit that he notices that Rin has moved from his room to the barstool during his own journey, drumming the counter with his fingertips, lost in thought.

“What’s up?” Makoto asks between bites.

Rin looks up. “I. I wanted to apologize.”

Makoto laughs, genuinely confused. “What are you talking about? You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“I freaked out on you, walked out, and ignored you for six months.”

“Oh.” Even if the wound is still fresh, the poorly wrapped bandage since then has seemed to be enough for Makoto. “It’s okay! It’s already happened, and everything’s fine now.”

“No it’s not!”

“If anything, I should apologize.” Makoto tosses his apple core into the trash. “I should’ve warned you about my applying and that I’d only have a month before I leave.”

“Well you had a good time, right? At least you weren’t a human disaster for those six months. And the first day. Especially the first day. I was such a dick.”

“You’re missing a big part of that day, Rin.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

Lie.

Makoto walks over to the other side of the counter, outside of the kitchen, so Rin is forced to turn his way over in the stool so he’s looking down at a kneeling Makoto before him.

Bells are ringing in his head, his heart feels like it’s going to burst, the words collect in his throat like vomit, making it harder and harder to hold them back, and Makoto bursts out, the speech he’d been building in his head since New York replaced by a blank page, “I really like you Rin. Too. I like you a lot too.”

Rin’s silent and Makoto panics.

“I mean, if you don’t like me anymore, that’s totally fine, I can get over it.” Which is a flat out lie, but time heals most injuries, even ones to the heart. 

Rin continues to say nothing, only sliding off the couch so he’s standing, and Makoto chooses to do the same.

They face each other like this, nothing but the distant chatter and horns honking outside creating any sort of noise.

Finally, Rin speaks. “Oh thank god,” He leaps into Makoto and pulls him down, wrapping his arms around his and their lips lock.

Makoto smiles into the small kiss, but can only do so for a second because it’s suddenly the most desperate Rin’s ever kissed him, pouring his genuine love into him after holding it in for so long, and Makoto’s more than happy to reciprocate.

It’s a few minutes before they’re barely broken apart; they’ve both opened their eyes but Makoto’s lips still brush over Rin’s when he musters out, “bed.”

Makoto kisses a nodding Rin again before saying into his mouth and adding, “Let’s go to my room.”

“What?” Rin leans back, shocked.

“May as well start this in the one room in here where we haven’t done, right?” Makoto laughs.

Rin grins. “Lead the way,” giving Makoto the opportunity to lift Rin’s legs, wrap them around his back, and take them to his room, alternating between small pecks and deep mouth-licking kisses along the way.

There are still two days of spring vacation plus the weekend, and Rin rarely uses his sick days, so he can totally use two of them now due to a “high fever and cough.”

They don’t leave Makoto’s room, much less the apartment, the entire four days.

“You’d think we’d get sick of being cooped up.” Rin mumbles into Makoto’s chest the morning of the third day.

“I’m fine with it. I like sharing a limited amount of space with Rin.”

“Oh my god, I hate you.” Rin plants his face onto Makoto’s sternum, digging his forehead and nose in.

“Please, you do not.” Makoto laughs, carding his fingers through Rin’s hair.

Rin picks up his head so he’s hovering over Makoto. He says, “Shut up,” before closing the gap between them and deeply kissing him in a way that they’ve perfected and sculpted so it suits only the two of them.

\--

Things haven’t changed much. 

Except now there are “I’ll see you later” and “welcome back” kisses, video games played while bodies rest on each other, sex that isn’t just for stress relief, but for “you look really good today” and “I appreciated your text today” and because “why the fuck not, we’re together, aren’t we?”

Rin’s room has gone back to the guest room, the old sheets back on and losing all the personality it achieved in a year.

Makoto’s own room has received a few more possessions, including a second drawer, a bookshelf of books that either belong in the “English textbook” or “swimming guide” categories

In the corner, there’s a bed for a pet that’s a rich navy in cloth. It accompanies the litterbox in the kitchen and the scratching post next to the couch. Most of the time, it’s occupied by a kitten with black eyes and fur a rich brown, wearing a collar in Christmas colors and a bell dangling on the end.

Haru flicks a grain of rice at both of them over dinner to signify the change in conversation topic. He pushes a rough sketch of Rin towards the two of them over the counter wearing his two medals and a pair of sweats, sweatshirt zipped down to display his full chest and sweatpants dipping just under the hipbone. “Since you two are all over each other anyway, I can draw Makoto too here if you want.” He taps over sketched Rin’s shoulder with his pencil, implying where his best friend could go. 

Rin uses Makoto’s shoulder as support for his arm as he leans into inspect the drawing. “It could work, you know. You could totally model.”

“I can ask my boss. Use Makoto as extra eye candy.”

“Are you going to spray us in water?” Rin suggests.

“You’re saying this as if I hadn’t already asked the creative director if I could.”

“I’m so happy you guys appreciate my input on this, thanks.” Makoto groans.

Rin tries on the sweats after they see Haru off, and models them in the living room, but they don’t last a full two minutes on his body and end up on the floor, soon followed by Makoto’s own clothes before they make their way over to their bedroom.

Currently, Makoto feels a mouth press into his neck, followed by a nose, forehead, and hair falling over his chest. He laughs, “Rin, I’ve almost beat the level, I need to concentrate!”

Rin moves so his face isn’t pressed into Makoto, but is barely touching. Still standing with his chest pressed to the back of the couch, he says, “I just wanted to tell you those clothes have been sitting on the floor for two days now. We should put them away. Especially since half of them are fucking designer sweats.”

“We _could_ do that, but we could also make the pile even bigger and deal with it later.” Makoto suggests, still focused on his game.

“How long until you finish the level?” Rin whispers in Makoto’s ear.

“Less time if you stop seducing me.” Makoto takes his eyes off to look at Rin and sticks his tongue out. “I may also go quicker if someone cleans out a certain litterbox.”

“Ugh, you suck.”

Makoto would feel guilty, but Rin’s disgustingly cute kiss on his cheek tells him that he’s already forgiven.

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to add the disclaimer now that cultural differences, limited knowledge about professional swimming, and being a student and not having lived in the Real World (yet) may lead to some inaccuracies. Though it's just a fic, I apologize, even for the small bits of research I did, and I hope you were able to enjoy it anyway!
> 
> If need be, the timeline of most of the events are [here](http://attemptsonwords.tumblr.com/private/79761519527/tumblr_n2j9zqKcB41saafef).


End file.
